Tuesday, January 3, 2012

The lower stomach or abdominal region is often cited as the hardest area lose weight, and the easiest place to gain it! Not being able to fit into your favorite jeans is bad enough, but as your waistline grows so do the health risks. Increased belly fat greatly heightens the likelihood of contracting heart disease, a stroke and diabetes. Eating a balanced, low fat diet is a great step and should be part any health regime. The other vital element is to workout regularly, incorporating a number of abdominal exercises.

Getting started is tough. Maintaining a regular regime is even harder. Regular performance of targeted exercises, plays a huge role in shaping a toned abdominal region. It doesn't need to be expensive, however many people find sit ups strenuous on the back and neck. The most cost effective ab equipment is probably the Exercise ball. These are a great way to develop a stronger core. Sitting on an exercise ball decreases your stability; this forces your abdominal muscles into action, and this is further increased as you use the ball to perform basic front and side crunches. As your confidence grows, there are also a number of more advanced exercises which help help develop more defined abs.

For a lot of people however, sit-ups and exercise ball routines only get you so far. For people looking for that “washboard stomach”, a weighted exercise may prove more successful. Muscle tissue will only significantly grow by adding resistance to the muscle movement. You wouldn’t get as developed arms doing push-ups as you would with heavy bench pressing, so the same principle applies here. Such options include weighted sit-ups, weight abdominal twists (moving from side to side), and hanging leg raises with weight strapped onto your ankles.

These more stressful exercises can prove difficult, especially for people who suffer from chronic back problems. The safest and most effective way to get around this is to use specifically designed ab machines. Any good gym will have a wide variety of equipment to suit your level of fitness and development needs. If you would rather workout from home, then the number of choices can be confusing. Do your research and go for the equipment that provides the best all-round workout, not just the one that promises the quickest results!

Abdominal exercises not only help you lose fat around your stomach, but greatly help develop your core strength. As well as looking great, the benefits include a better range of movement and improved flexibility.